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Tag Archives: FileNet

We want to integrate IBM TRIRIGA with FileNet using CMIS 1.1, but we need to know what is all of the standard metadata that TRIRIGA sends to FileNet. For example, the file name, date creation, date modification, document type, document size, TRIRIGA user owner, etc. And if it is possible to send custom metadata when creating new custom fields in the Document business object? How can we do it?

The following properties are sent as part of the integration: Document Name, Document Type, Document Path. The Owner is going to be the CMIS username as defined in the TRIRIGAWEB.properties. Further custom metadata is not supported. The purpose of the CMIS integration is to have the binary content not stored in the TRIRIGA database as BLOBs.

[Admin: This post is related to the 07.26.17 post about CMIS FileNet integration issues, and the 12.02.16 post about integrating with CMIS and ECM solutions. To see other related posts, use the CMIS tag or ECM tag.]

We have an IBM-hosted environment that will be connected to an IBM-hosted FileNet instance as the CMIS. After configuring everything, the connection is established and the containers are created in FileNet, but the actual file is not uploaded. Has anyone been able to have this integration work in their environment? Here is a snippet of the error log when CMIS integration is active…

This was most likely due to a misconfiguration on the TRIRIGAWEB.properties or CMIS side. TRIRIGA supports the CMIS 1.1 standard. IBM TRIRIGA can be configured to store documents in Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems that support the Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) ECM gateway Version 1.1 of the CMIS standard, as established by OASIS.

These gateways are specific to the vendor of your particular ECM and should be installed accordingly, if one does not already exist in your organization. See the Compatibility Matrix. IBM FileNet adheres to the CMIS 1.1 standard. So, as long as the FileNet version has support for 1.1, it is supported by TRIRIGA.

[Admin: A similar question is also posted in the triDeveloper Google group. To see other related posts, use the CMIS tag or ECM tag.]

I’m setting up a VPN between TRIRIGA 3.5.2 and FileNet (CMIS integration). Is there a specific port that is used for CMIS like there is for the mail server?

The CMIS integration is done via HTTP. In the TRIRIGAWEB.properties file, you set the URL to the CMIS server service in the property: CMIS_URL. If the value of CMIS_URL is “http”, then it is port 80. If it is “https”, then port 443. Or if the port is defined in the URL, then that’s the port to open. For example, if CMIS_URL is http://filenet.mycompany.com:9080/fncmis/resources/Service , the port is 9080.

After an upload of a document, we use a custom task to send the document to a FileNet instance for content searchability. From that point, we don’t need the document in the TRIRIGA database any longer.

Is there any simple way to delete the content associated to a document record? This ensures we have control over where documents and sensitive information are being stored, and to save database space. From reviewing the API, it looks like we might be able to achieve this in our custom task with .setContent(null or empty content). Is there a nicer approach?

[Admin: This post is related to the 12.02.16 post about integrating with a CMIS or ECM, and the 06.09.16 post about using an ECM instead of Document Manager.]

Can I access a document stored in the IBM TRIRIGA database via a URL address? I need to get some documents out of a valid IBM TRIRIGA session.

The IBM TRIRIGA platform stores documents in binary large object (BLOB) fields. They are not available in typical operating-system folder or directory structures. To access these documents, you need to login to IBM TRIRIGA and open the Document Manager. There is no direct URL to get into the BLOB field. The document is stored in a way that it cannot be read from a regular browser. You need to use Document Manager to read the documents stored in these BLOB fields. Some forms may have links to Document Manager that load specific documents from BLOB fields.

If the company uses an ECM that supports CMIS, such as Documentum or IBM FileNet Content Manager, you can enable the CMIS in the TRIRIGA Application Platform so that files and folders can be managed by using the TRIRIGA Document Manager and then stored in the ECM. You enable CMIS by setting the CMIS properties in the TRIRIGAWEB.properties file, either on the server or in the IBM TRIRIGA Administrator Console. You must restart the server for the changes to the TRIRIGAWEB.properties file to take effect. After CMIS is enabled, the ECM administrator can proceed to configure the ECM settings as necessary…

[Admin: This post is related to the 12.02.16 post about integrating with CMIS or ECM solutions, the 06.09.16 post about using an ECM solution instead of Document Manager, and the 04.13.16 post about uploading 6500 locations with several attachments each.]

I know that the TRIRIGA Document Management tool was not developed nor intended to be a full-fledged document management system. However, some clients have a need for a more robust document management system for controlling their CAD drawings. Are there any efforts to integrate TRIRIGA with other document management tools? Or are changes being made to implement a third-party document management tool within TRIRIGA? If so, has a timeline been established as to when that would occur?

IBM has announced that the upcoming release of the IBM TRIRIGA Application Platform, version 3.5.2, includes support for Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS), providing integration between the IBM TRIRIGA document manager and enterprise content management (ECM) implementations that support CMIS, such as IBM FileNet®. The planned availability date for electronic download is December 16, 2016.

To add to this, the initial release is a first phase of CMIS support which is primarily focused on starting to get binary content out of the TRIRIGA database schema. To keep it simple, once you establish a link between TRIRIGA and an ECM solution, and users begin uploading new documents, the binary content for those documents will be routed to the ECM while still retaining a document record in TRIRIGA. More details on this will be in the release notes.

Also note that customers have been integrating TRIRIGA with other document management tools for many years. It does not require the aforementioned CMIS enhancement. Our APIs (CBA, OSLC) offer access to upload and download binary content, and you can create dynamic links to any ECM solution from our records.

I have worked in the TRIRIGA application for the past 5 years, functionally and technically. I have not seen any clients using external applications to manage documents through the interface. Recently, in my organization, there have been a lot of conversations going around about using an external application for document management.

Is there anyone else who uses an external system to manage documents from TRIRIGA? If yes, can you please help me understand the reason for going with an external application, instead of using the out-of-box features from TRIRIGA? What are all of the limitations in TRIRIGA document management?

It’s not uncommon to manage documents in an external system like FileNet or Documentum and then link TRIRIGA to that (either as a mirror or pass-thru). The primary reason is that the aforementioned solutions are actual Enterprise Content Management systems; they were designed and built with the core mission of enterprise document management on very large scales. TRIRIGA is an IWMS solution that happens to provide some internal document management capabilities, but it’s not intended to meet or exceed the capabilities of a purpose-built ECM solution.

So in cases where you’re managing millions of potential documents (even tens of thousands, to be honest), you’ll likely be better served using an ECM solution as the source of storage and management for that content. It’s not that there’s any specific line in the sand or limitation for TRIRIGA document management capabilities, but depending on your goals you may find that integrating TRIRIGA with a true ECM solution will better meet your requirements. Other people will be able to access those systems without TRIRIGA access, you can control security independent of TRIRIGA, you’re not loading up the TRIRIGA DB schema with gigs of content, etc.

[Admin: This post is related to the 04.13.16 post about uploading 6500 locations with several attachments each.]